Staunton Harold (Glomus Estate)
Staunton Harold is the name of the Glomus family estate in the White Mountains near Kancamagus Center, New Hampshire (The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt; 34-6). Johnny Dixon discovers the estate is within a short walking distance from Camp Chocorua, the Boy Scout camp he attends. Estate Grounds The grounds are situated in a valley and surrounded by a “high rusty iron fence” and contain a small stone church by a quiet lake, a grove of willow trees, and a stone mansion. A long-unused road leads from the fence to a main road and a “big stone arch” with engravings of “monster heads and leering human faces” and the name of the estate. The estate is later discovered to be owned by the Glomus family, whose patriarch, H.B. Glomus, based the layout of his property on an English estate of the same name (Mummy, 96-7). Mansion The mansion is described as being built of “grim, gray stone” and “decorated with clusters of spires, minarets, turrets, and funny bulbous domes” (Mummy, 36). Little is said of the interior except it was “adorned with statues of the Nine Worthies” (Mummy, 96) and contains many rooms, including a kitchen (Mummy, 148), an enormous paneled dining room (Mummy, 149), and a curved stone balcony (Mummy, 150). Chapel The chapel was mostly in the Gothic style, with Classical elements around its door (Mummy, 141). Its exterior is defined by a “stubby” tower “with battlements on top". Inside the chapel are “high wooden pews, a stone altar with a bronze crucifix, and a series of Gothic arches that marched down the side aisles” (Mummy, 140). At the rear of the chapel, under the organ loft, was a big, pointed wooden door that led outside. It is said this chapel was a replica of an English chapel from the 17th Century (96-7) and Glomus went as far as duplicating the dedication plaque of the English chapel on his, setting it in "a square table made of white marble" above the entrance (Mummy, 142): In the yeare 1653 when all thinges Sacred were throughout ye nation Either demolisht or profaned Sir Robert Shirley, Barronet, Founded this Church; Whose singular praise it is to haue done the best thinges in ye worst times and hoped them in the most calamitous The Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. Cottage There is a small, cottage-like lodge that stands south of the estate in a clearing outside the property fence. The building itself has a slate roof and windows with diamond-shaped panes. Over the front door was a “fancy stone arch” with the inscription "Health Is Wealth" (Mummy, 69). Inside was no furniture but a marble fireplace with decorative knobs shaped “like...tiny heads of children...smiling and apple-cheeked, and...slurping cereal from bowls” (Mummy, 69-70). Over the fireplace was an oil painting of H.B. Glomus. While its interior is unimpressive, it’s the underground passage that leads from the cottage, runs under the fence, and into the crypt under chapel that is an old family secret. Mausoleum H.B. Glomus was buried in a mausoleum on the grounds of the estate (Mummy, 91). Inspiration Johnny’s adventures at Scout camp are a good example of Bellairs interjecting some of his Anglophilia into New England, specifically the White Mountain region not far from his adopted hometown of Haverhill. The real Staunton Harold estate is located in northwest Leicestershire, England, and includes the hall, the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, the Serpentine Lake, estate cottages, and stables. While Bellairs used the name and most of the property of the English estate as a model, only the church seems to have been recreated on the fictitious New Hampshire property. The description of the mansion - with its “clusters of spires, minarets, turrets, and funny bulbous domes” - seems to be of the author’s construction. Discovery Johnny and Fergie discover the strange estate while at Scout camp, and Bellairs's passage describing their initial encounter is reminiscent of a scene in the M. R. James story "Wailing Well", the story of "two members of a Troop of Scouts" that come across a strange section of land near their camp: It was a lovely morning, and Stanley Judkins and one or two of his friends - for he still had friends - lay basking on the top of the down. Stanley was lying on his stomach with his chin propped on his hands, staring into the distance. "I wonder what that place is," he said. "Which place?" said one of the others. "That sort of clump in the middle of the field down there." "Oh, ah! How should I know what it is?" "What do you want to know for?" said another. "I don't know: I like the look of it. What's it called? Nobody got a map?" said Stanley. "Call yourselves Scouts!" Category:The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt content Category:Things Category:Massachusetts things